Archbishop of Canterbury backs Chief Rabbi over his comments about Jeremy Corbyn, warning “visible action” is needed, not just words

The Archbishop of Canterbury has backed the Chief Rabbi over his unprecedented intervention, in which he warned that Jeremy Corbyn was “unfit for office” and that “the very soul of our nation is at stake.”

Archbishop Justin Welby, who is the most senior clergyman in the Church of England has this morning issued a statement warning that there is a “deep sense of insecurity and fear felt by many British Jews.”

Stating that “None of us can afford to be complacent”, the Archbishop made a thinly veiled attack on those who continually deplore antisemitism whilst doing nothing against it, writing: “Voicing words that commit to a stand against antisemitism requires a corresponding effort in visible action.”

On 28th May, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched a full statutory investigation following a formal referral and detailed legal representations from Campaign Against Antisemitism, which is the complainant.

In recent months, thirteen MPs and three peers have resigned from the Labour Party over antisemitism, along with a large number of MEPs, councillors and members.

Over 58,000 people have now signed our petition denouncing Jeremy Corbyn as an antisemite and declaring him “unfit to hold any public office.”

On 8th December, regardless of religion, race or politics, Jews and non-Jews alike will gather in Parliament Square to declare that they stand together against antisemitism in the face of Jew-hatred in politics and mounting anti-Jewish hate crime.